Ordonez: Tigers can still make playoffs

Press Photo/T.J. HamiltonMagglio Ordonez takes a swing during his rehab stat with the West Michigan Whitecaps on Monday.

COMSTOCK PARK - Two years ago, the Detroit Tigers were 30 games over .500 and boasted baseball's best record at the All-Star break. Last season they turned a five-game winning streak into a one-game lead over Cleveland at the mid-point of the American League Central race.

While the Tigers' current 47-47 mark lags far behind either one of those marks at this week's All-Star break, Magglio Ordonez thinks the club is still very much in the hunt for a playoff spot.

Provided they can somehow find a way to play better ball in the next couple weeks.

"At the beginning of the season, we didn't play well," said the Tigers outfielder prior to Monday's rehab assignment with the West Michigan Whitecaps at Fifth Third Ballpark. "But we've been better and hopefully we can still be better. We have a helluva team."

Maybe, but the Tigers haven't exactly drawn a flood of praise from baseball observers for their work in the first half. Still, it doesn't seem to faze Ordonez, the defending American League batting champ and seven-time .300 hitter, that the Tigers haven't been more than two games over .500 the entire season. Or that a much-maligned pitching staff sports an ugly 4.39 ERA. Or that Detroit has scored two or fewer runs in 32 games, including being shut out 10 times.

Ordonez said there is still time to either wipe out the seven-game deficit between the Tigers and division-leading Chicago White Sox or snag a wild card spot.

"We need to pitch, hit and make the little plays," he said. "I think we'll play better in the second half."

The loss of Ordonez hasn't helped. He was placed on the disabled list June 29 for the fourth time in his career after he suffered a pulled oblique muscle while chasing a foul ball. He returned with the Whitecaps on Monday to go 1-for-4 and a run scored in a 10-2 win over Peoria. Ordonez said the plan is to join the Tigers on Thursday in Baltimore.

Ordonez admitted he probably needs more time than a one-game rehab stint, but with Triple-A Toledo at their all-star break, Double-A Erie beginning four games in Akron Thursday and the Whitecaps headed to Beloit and Burlington in the next six days, there was only time for one game in Grand Rapids.

"I want to relax a little and get ready," said Ordonez, a career .312 hitter in his 12th big league season.

As Tigers manager Jim Leyland has pointed out on numerous occasions, Ordonez agrees that former Whitecaps such as Clete Thomas, Matt Joyce, Michael Hollimon and Freddy Dolsi have provided a major spark for the team. Thomas and Joyce have filled in for an injured and slumping Gary Sheffield at designated hitter and in the outfield while Hollimon was a boost to the infield when Ramon Santiago missed time. Dolsi filled a major void in the bullpen when Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney were on the shelf.

"When you're a rookie in the big leagues, you give a team a lot of energy," Ordonez said. "You want to play every day, you want to do well and play hard.

"It means the organization has done a helluva job. The Tigers have got a good system because (those players) are doing a great job."